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Common star 15 EP

HD 12820

RA 31.9469° · Dec 59.6292° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
15 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
Total score 15

7 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 9.6 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Cassiopeia.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around October — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 7.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 686.3 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
3.972
bv
0.641
constellation
Cas
dist ly
439.5634
luminosity
2.2449
mag
9.62
name
HD 12820
spect
G5

About HD 12820

HD 12820 is a common star. It lies about 439.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cas, shines at apparent magnitude 9.62 and has spectral type G5.

Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 12820 in the constellation Cas. At apparent magnitude 9.62, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 12820 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why HD 12820 is a common star

HD 12820 scores 15 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar) and Sun-like G-type star — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.